What can we say... EXCELLENT work made by Centre Nautique Plouhinec (France). Fred Jonneaux, NEWS TEAM kayaksurf.net, sent us this fabulous report about an initiative that counted with... 88 entries! Objectiv: promote the passion for waves and paddling. Check the report and the video and see how great was the event. Children os all ages testing waveskis with all the safety and fun. CONGRATULATIONS!

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Championnat Finistère Waveski 2011Fred Jonneaux report

We organised on the same beach break, 2 different surf zones ; one zone on the part of the beach with smaller waves for the kids (8 to 12 years old) : by groups of 6 riders, race started from the sand, they had to pull their boards to the water, then paddle to a buoy, turn around it and then surf back to the until the arrival line on the beach (same line for start and finish). Time was chronometred, and a bonus of 1, 2 or 3 points could be given : 3 points for riders who surfed ont the same wave from the buoy until the sand ; 2 points for riders who could get a wave to surf and didn't fall down, and 1 point for riders who made a take off and fall before they reached the sand.

1 or two adult are necessary for standing in the water to assist riders who may fall and be frightened by waves (Mathieu did the job, as you can see on the video). Leash and helmet are compulsory.

On the second zone, waves were a bit bigger, and beginners could fight against confirmed riders. Heats of 4 riders, 15 mn per heat. Judgement was special : riders who only surf foam can't get more than 5 points. Riders who go far to get waves from the set gets between 5 to 10 points (depends on what manoeuvers they realise). So, after a few minutes, beginners always try to reach a set of waves, to score better. ;-) On that zone, riders from 13 to 30 competed, by age categories + Ladies.

This was the 4th edition of this event. It's really easy to organize it : no more than 12 boards are necessary. What is important is : leash and helmet are compulsory. Riders understand very easily the rules, and the way to pass several rounds.

What is good is that we could see that since last year, most of the riders had some training sessions in their clubs before the came to this competition. And that is a very interesting thing, because it is the first time we can see that : on previous editions, riders (except Plouhinec riders !... ;)) were discovering waveski during the competition.

That means that now, all those kayakers know what waveski surfing is, they know it is one of the paddling activity, and know what pleasure it can give (just have a look at their face on the video, it's an evidence). So we can hope that, even for kayakers who live away from the sea, that they will surf again on waveski as soon as they have an opportunity to do it !